Ruben Trejo, one of the country’s premier Mexican-American artists, has died. He was 72.

Trejo has been on faculty at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wash., since 1973, but has roots in the Twin Cities. He was born in a railcar in St. Paul, and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota, according to an obit in today’s Spokesman-Review.

Trejo’s work has been exhibited nationwide, including at the Smithsonian.